COACH YOU BLOG
Are you like Marmite?
31/10/2013
Love it or hate it, Marmite prevails. In fact their marketers have created an excellent campaign around people’s extreme response to their product. Risky, you might think, but they’re not trying to change minds, they’re reminding their fans!
And what can we learn from this? If, like me, you are in the service industry then we find ourselves anxious for everyone to like us. And there lies our mistake. If everyone wanted to do business with us we’d struggle to cope and, in reality, with many people we wouldn’t do a very good job. And that’s the key.
You want to do a really good job. There are some clients who really get what you do, they love what you do and get tremendous value from it. They’re your biggest fans … they rave about you, pass referrals all the time … they build your business for you.
Then, there are the others. They don’t know or can’t commit to what they want, you’re not sure how to deliver and so they can’t possibly be satisfied.
Step away … stop being a people pleaser … work out who you love to work with, who loves what you do and target them.
When I first went into coaching I wanted to coach the world: everyone needs coaching, right? It was an uphill battle, this was nine years ago and people didn’t really understand what coaching was. Many of the people I spoke to were frankly terrified of this tall, confident woman evangelising about coaching and what it can do for people. They would back away, wide-eyed and overwhelmed and I was left feeling disappointed and flat. However, when I talked about working with passionate people with a mission – to reignite their passion or find a new mission, the penny dropped. Either they thought “that’s me” or they mentally worked through their address book to picture the kind of people I was talking about. Clients and referrals started gently cascading into my Inbox.
And it’s an ongoing process … great when you can decide it is female entrepreneurs 30 – 55 that you want to work with – go for it! Don’t panic about the 20 year old who glaze over or look confused – they’re not your people. And, don’t feel like it must be set in stone. Allow that target market to evolve over time. If you are really enjoying working with more male clients then adjust your message accordingly, just don’t water it down … it’s Marmite remember, not Bovril!
Jill McCulloch Certified Co-Active Coach and Marmite lover…http://www.coachyou.co.uk
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